IMPORTANT SOULINTHECITY DURBAN UPDATE FROM MIKE P…
Some things have changed in the past couple of weeks and we’ve had to make important decisions, so we wanted to make sure you were aware of what’s different.

Changes…
100 are going out to Durban this summer and next year we originally planned to take up to 1500 of you to serve in South Africa. However, over the past months we’ve really struggled to get the 09 events to come together and it’s become clear that the problems involved will not go away. The key issues are:

1) Airfares are increasing dramatically

2) Airlines say the cost will continue to rise.

3) All the airlines we’ve looked to work with have required big financial commitments from us which, under Charity Commission regulations in the UK, is difficult for us to comply with (and we could go broke too!).

4) For a city wide initiative we wanted as many people and groups as possible involved and we've realised a much longer time frame is needed to develop all the desired relationships on this scale.

All this said, we’re still committed to running events and supporting projects and churches in Durban and can’t wait to go… and we know, despite rising costs, some of you are committed to coming with us. So, after loads of prayer and discussion, we’re changing things a little.
 
This is what is will happen in 2009 with SOULINTHECITY Durban (you might not notice any change):
Back in 2007 nearly 200 of us from our church Soul Survivor Watford travelled to Durban and worked several specific projects and initiatives. It was an amazing time to learn, serve, relax, be challenged, inspired and changed… the same heart behind the 09 SOULINTHECITY Durban events. With the issues we’re facing, we’ve decided to refocus our events to be a bit more like this simpler model. This means:

1) We’re looking to take up to 400 people to Durban (instead of 1500)

2) There will only be one set of dates (instead of up to six different choices) which means we’ll all be together all the time. Provisional dates are 2 weeks in early July 2009

3) I will now definitely be able to personally host the events as they won’t clash with the Soul Survivor UK conferences

We hope that this way of re-organising the events means we can be a greater blessing to a more focused area of this amazing city. And, of course, we’d love it if you joined us! We know the events will be a fantastic time to meet with God, serve the great churches of Durban, be changed ourselves and hopefully help see change in others lives too… so we hope you can come. Keep your eye on the website for details of when the application process will open.

If you have any questions just drop us a line at durban@soulsurvivor.com.

With love


ps. We’re working really hard to get the final detail of dates, costs and the rest sorted asap. Please bear with us while we do as this as some of the changes mean we have to do a load of work all over again!